Article selection and placement assembly and method

ABSTRACT

An apparatus is disclosed for applying tags with attached elastic anchor bands onto the tops of objects such as bottles in a high speed packaging application. The apparatus includes an infeed assembly for feeding a web, a conveyor assembly that receives a web and conveys it along a path in an upstream direction, a rotating selector wheel, a placement assembly, a pair of rotating jaw assembles, a vacuum cup of the selector wheel, and stretched elastic bands over the tops of respective bottles being conveyed along a path below the placing assembly. The elastic bands then snap onto the tops of their respective bottles to secure the tags to the bottles.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/890,537, filed May 9, 2013, which is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/797,154, filed Jun. 9, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No.8,458,874, which application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/185,461, filed Jun. 9, 2009.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The disclosures of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/890,537, filedMay 9, 2013, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,154, filed Jun. 9,2010, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/185,461, filed Jun. 9,2009, are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as ifpresented herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to article selection and placementmachinery. More specifically, methods and devices are disclosed forfeeding a web containing groups of articles, selecting an article fromthe group of articles in continuous succession from the web, and placingthe article onto an object selected from a group of objects, also movingin continuous succession. The devices and methods are well suited forthe packaging industry, where articles, such as tags, are placed ontoselected objects, such as bottles or other containers.

BACKGROUND

In the packaging industry, high speed packaging machines commonlypackage thousands of items such as beverage bottles in a singleproduction run and at high speeds. It is sometimes desirable to placeadvertising or other indicia on the bottles in a removable manner beforethey are packaged. One way to do this is to place a tag containing theindicia onto the neck of each bottle where the tags are held in placewith elastic anchor bands that are secured to one end of the tags. Suchtags exist in the form of long ribbons or webs wherein multitudes oftags and their elastic anchor bands are defined in the web by scorelines or partial cuts so that each tag and its band can be detached fromthe web. A need exists for a apparatus and method for removing thesetags from the web and placing their elastic anchor bands over the topsof bottles (or other objects) at high rates, in continuous succession,and in a reliable and efficient manner. There also exists a need forsuch an apparatus to be easily reloaded or re-threaded with a new web oftags when one web supply is exhausted to minimize the down time requiredto reload the apparatus. It is to the provision of such an apparatus andto the corresponding method that the present disclosure is primarilydirected.

SUMMARY

Briefly described, an apparatus and method for placing a tag having anelastic band onto an object such as the top portion of a beverage bottleis disclosed. The apparatus has a downstream end and an upstream end. Aninfeed assembly at the downstream end of the apparatus carries a pair ofreels each configured to carry a wound web having a multitude of tagsdetachably defined therein. Each tag includes an elastic anchor band atone end, which also is detachably defined in the web. A guide rail androller assembly is associated with each web reel so that the web fromeach reel can be threaded into the machine independently from the webfrom the other reel. A conveyor assembly upstream of the infeed assemblyand guide rails is configured to receive the threaded web and convey theweb in a generally upstream direction.

A placing assembly is positioned adjacent an upstream end of theconveyor assembly beneath the moving web. The placing assembly includesa rotating radially arranged array of jaw assemblies having distal endsthat pass just beneath the web and thus the tags defined therein. Eachjaw assembly has a distal end that can be selectively opened and closedand sets of pins on the distal end can independently be extended andretracted. As the closed distal ends of the jaw assemblies approach theweb with their pins extended, the pins of each jaw assembly move throughthe elastic anchor band of a corresponding tag to capture the band onthe pins. A selector assembly is also positioned at the upstream end ofthe conveyor assembly and includes a rotating wheel having vacuum cupsarrayed about its periphery. The wheel is substantially aligned abovethe placing assembly and rotates above the moving web. As the wheelrotates, its vacuum cups engage and push down on the tags of the webjust after the anchor bands of the tags are captured by the pins of thejaw assemblies. This action detaches the tags and their elastic bandsfrom the web so that each jaw assembly carries a freed tag.

As the jaw assemblies and tags rotate downwardly toward a line ofsynchronously moving bottles, the jaws of the jaw assemblies areprogressively opened through the action of a cam and cam follower. Thismoves the pin sets apart to stretch the elastic anchor bands to a widerdiameter. The rotating and open ends of each jaw assembly then move overthe top of a corresponding moving bottle below and the pins areretracted by another cam and cam follower arrangement. This releases theelastic anchor band, which then snaps elastically onto the top of itsbottle to attach the tag to the bottle. The jaw assemblies are thenclosed by the cams and cam followers and their pins are again extendedas they rotate back up toward the moving web for another cycle.

An apparatus and method are thus provided that applies tags to the topsof objects such as beverage bottles in rapid succession and in a waythat is very reliable and efficient. The apparatus can be re-threadedwith new web upon exhaustion of one web due to the dual supply reels anddual guide rail assemblies at the downstream end of the apparatus, thusminimizing down time. These and other features, aspects, and advantagesof the method and apparatus disclosed herein will become more apparentupon review of the detailed description set forth below when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing figures, which are brieflydescribed as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an article selection and placementassembly according to one embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary web that carries groups ofarticles, in this case tags to be placed on containers.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of key components of the article selectionand placement assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the article selection and placementassembly of FIG. 3 from a different viewing angle.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the article selection and placementassembly of FIG. 3 from yet a different viewing angle.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing special relationships betweencomponents of the web conveyor assembly.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the web conveyor assembly of FIG. 6 froma different viewing angle.

FIG. 8 is a perspective of a roller assembly of the article selectionand placement assembly of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating the web conveyor assembly andassociated selector assembly.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the article selection and placement assemblyshowing a portion of the web conveyor assembly, the selector assembly,the article placing assembly, and bottle conveyor.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of the selector assembly, andthe article placing assembly and showing three exemplary jaw assembliesthereof

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating removal of tagsfrom their web and placement of the elastic anchor bands of the tagsover the pins of corresponding jaw assemblies.

FIG. 13 is a perspective partially transparent view of the articleplacement assembly illustrating the offset cam disc and its dual camtracks for controlling the jaw assemblies.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of the article placementassembly of FIG. 13 illustrating attachment of the jaw assemblies to thewheel of the article placement assembly.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged perspective view of the wheel and three exemplaryjaw assemblies of the article placement assembly.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a jaw assembly in a substantiallyclosed, pin-extended configuration assumed when receiving an elasticanchor band of a tag.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a jaw assembly in its open,pin-extended configuration assumed when placing the elastic anchor bandof a tag over, for instance, a bottle top.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a jaw assembly in its open,pin-retracted configuration assumed when releasing the elastic anchorband of a tag onto , for instance, a bottle top.

FIG. 19 is a side view of the article placement assembly illustratingthe offset relationship of the slotted wheel and the jaw hub of thearticle placement assembly.

FIG. 20 is a perspective partially transparent view of the articleplacement assembly illustrating retraction of the pins to place tags on,for instance, bottle tops.

FIG. 21 is an enlarged perspective view of the distal end portions of ajaw assembly illustrating positioning of an elastic anchor band of a tagaround, for instance, a bottle top.

FIG. 22 is a front view of the article placement assembly showing a jawassembly thereof positioning an elastic anchor band of a tag around, forinstance, a bottle top.

FIG. 23 is a perspective partially transparent view of the articleplacement assembly of FIGS. 21 and 22.

FIG. 24 also is a perspective partially transparent view of the articleplacement assembly.

FIG. 25 is a side view of the article placement assembly showing jawassemblies carrying tags rotating downwardly to place the tags on, forinstance, bottle tops.

FIG. 26 is a perspective partially transparent view of the articleplacement assembly in the same configuration as shown in FIG. 25.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be had to the drawing figures, wherein like parts areidentified with like reference numerals throughout the several views.Where indicated, a group of figures may be referenced together in theinterest of clarity and brevity.

FIG. 1 illustrates an article selection and placement assembly accordingto a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the illustratedembodiments, the articles to be selected and placed on objects such asbottles are plastic tags, and will be described as such herein forclarity. However, articles other than plastic tags may be used and arewithin the scope of the term “tags” used herein.

In general, the assembly 1 comprises a frame 2 constructed andconfigured to support the functional components of the assembly. Acowling 3 is secured to the frame and houses one or more drive trainsfor rotating or otherwise moving components of the assembly, as detailedbelow. The assembly 1 has a downstream end to the right in FIG. 1 and anupstream end to the left in FIG. 1. An infeed assembly 10 is mounted atthe downstream end of the assembly 1 and includes hubs 19 a and 19 bonto which are mounted respective reels R containing webs W defining amultitude of sequentially arranged tags T. A lower guide rail 26 and anupper guide rail 27 are disposed upstream of the infeed assembly 10. Aweb W is drawn from one or the other of the reels R and guided byrespective guide rolls 22 or 23 onto respective guide rail 26 or 27,along which the web W moves in an upstream direction indicated by arrow4. The lower guide rail 26 is associated with the bottommost web W andthe upper guide rail 27 is associated with the uppermost web W.

A conveyor assembly 40 is disposed at the upstream ends of the guiderails 26 and 27 and comprises an endless belt 41 carrying an array ofspaced transverse bars 42. The conveyor assembly and its function aredescribed in detail below. Generally, however, the moving web Wtransfers from the upstream end of its associated guide rail 26 or 27onto the transverse bars 42 of the conveyor assembly 40. The transversebars 42 carry the web further upstream and simultaneously move themupwardly along an inclined flight of the endless belt 41. An uppermostflight of the conveyor 40 is substantially level or inclined slightlydownwardly so that the transverse bars 42 and the web W containing tagsT carried thereby are moved beneath an article selector assembly 60. Thearticle selector assembly 60 generally comprises a rotating star wheel62 that carries an array of vacuum cups 65 about its periphery. Asdescribed in more detail below, as the star wheel 62 rotates above themoving web W, the vacuum cups 65 sequentially engage respective tags Tdefined on the web, each of which is disposed between a pair oftransverse bars 42. Each vacuum cup 65 presses downwardly on arespective tag T of the web W, causing the tag, which is defined byscore lines or other lines of weakness in the web, to be “punched outof” and thereby separated or detached from the web. A vacuum applied tothe vacuum cup 65 stabilizes the separated tag and holds it in place.

As each tag T approaches the position where it is detached from the webW by the selector assembly, an elastic anchor band 14 (FIG. 2) of thetag is captured by an article placing assembly 70 disposed beneath theselector assembly 60. The article placing assembly 70 will be describedin substantial detail below. Generally, however, the article placingassembly carries a radially arranged array of jaw assemblies 100 (onlythree of which are illustrated in FIG. 1) that rotate in acounterclockwise direction in FIG. 1, as indicated by the arrow, above atiming screw 6. The timing screw moves a linear array of bottles B (orother objects) in a downstream direction beneath and in synchronizationwith the rotating jaw assemblies 100 of the article placing assembly 70.The rotating jaw assemblies successively capture the elastic anchorbands of tags T on pins projecting from distal ends of the jawassemblies as the distal ends rotate beneath the web and immediatelythereafter each of the captured tags is detached from the web by theselector 60 so that each jaw assembly carries a freed tag. As the tagsare rotated downwardly on the jaw assemblies toward bottles below, thejaw assemblies open up and stretch the elastic anchor band of each tagso that it is large enough to fit over the top of a bottle B below. eachstretched elastic anchor band is then progressively moved over the topof a respective bottle B as the jaw assemblies rotate into alignmentwith the bottle. The pins on which the elastic anchor band is held arethen retracted, causing the band to “snap” onto the top of the bottle Blike a rubber band. The elastic anchor band, and thus the tag to whichit is attached, are thereby securely but removably attached to thebottle top. Furthermore, the just described process can be carried outreliably at high speeds to match those of modern packaging machines.

In summary, the assembly 1 is adapted to feed a web carrying a multitudeof removable articles, such as information tags, to a selector assembly60, to transfer the articles to an article placement assembly, tomanipulate or prepare the articles for placement onto an object, andfinally to place the article onto a selected object. All of theseactions occur in continuous fashion, as the objects, such as beveragecontainers, are fed along a second path of travel. Although thedescription herein is largely presented in the context of placing tagsonto the neck portions of bottles, the method and apparatus can beutilized to place articles onto or within any object that is sized orshaped to receive the article. The embodiment shown is especially wellsuited for placing tags having an elastic anchor band that fits around acontainer, to hold the tag to the container.

As mentioned above, the article selection and placement assembly 1includes a web supply and in-feed assembly 10, a web conveyor assembly40, an article selector assembly 60, and an article placing assembly 70.The article placing assembly 70 also is designed to manipulate orprepare the articles, such as tags T, as they are being position forplacement onto, for example, the neck of a bottle B. The objects, in thepresent example, bottles, are conveyed adjacent to, or beneath, thearticle placement assembly by a bottle conveyor (not shown) and arespaced sequentially by timing screw 6. The present inventions areparticularly useful in association with continuous motion, relativelyhigh speed, packaging machines (not shown) in which bottles or cans, arearranged or grouped, and placed in a carrier, such as a carton.

FIG. 2 shows a section of a web W having a multitude tags T detachablyformed, such as by stamping or otherwise scoring, into a substrate 12 ofplastic material or synthetic material. Paper or another material mightbe used. The tags T include a body portion 13, rectangular in theillustrated embodiment, and an elastic anchor band 14. The body portion13 and part of the anchor band 14 is defined by perforated line or scoreline or tear line 15, and the body portion 13 is sized to receive aprinted message or other indicia. The tag T also could receive amagnetic strip coded with information, a computer chip, and RFID chip,or the like. The anchor band 14 of tag T is shaped generally as a banddefining an opening 16, and is comprised of an elastic, syntheticmaterial that permits this portion of the tag T to be mechanicallystretched, so that opening 16 is enlarged. Once a mechanical forceapplied outwardly to the inner sides of opening 16 is relaxed, theopening will retract or snap back toward its initial size and shaperather like a rubber band. The substrate upon which the tags are formedalso defines two rows of holes 17 that cooperate with pins, discussedbelow, to allow the web W to be pulled in proper alignment throughassembly 1. These types of tags are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,281,345 andU.S. Pat. No. D532,049, and are marketed commercially under the nameElastiTag®. An elongate web W of tags T is wound onto reels 17 a and 17b, so that each reel contains hundreds or thousands of tagsconsecutively arranged along web W and capable of being mechanicallypunched out or otherwise separated or detached from substrate 12.

Referring in more detail to FIG. 3, the in-feed assembly 10 includes tworeels 17 a and 17 b carrying rolls 11 a and 11 b of web in order toincrease the number of tags available for the selection and placementoperation, and to allow the operation to continue virtuallyuninterrupted by a web changeover. Only one roll 11 a or 11 b isoperable at a time to provide web in-feed during operation of theapparatus 1. As the one roll is progressively paid out, an operator mayplace a full roll on the other reel and thread it into a ready positionin the machine. When the first roll is exhausted, the web of the secondroll is automatically fed from its already threaded and queued positionto the conveyor assembly of the machine, and becomes the new web supplyvirtually immediately. The machine may stop instantaneously as the newweb is moved onto the arms of the conveyor, but this pause can easily becompensated for. Thus, the machine operates virtually continuously withno down time required for switching from a spent roll of web to a freshroll of web. The treading and changeover operation is described in moredetail below.

The reels 17 a and 17 b are rotated, as is well known in the art, aboutshafts 18 a and 18 b using hubs 19 a and 19 b. The reels may not bedriven, but may freely rotate in the clockwise direction as viewed inFIG. 3, as their associated webs are pulled or drawn through assembly 1.

The web supply and in-feed assembly 10 also includes dual guideassemblies 20 and 21, also shown in FIG. 6, that guide the web from therespective reel to the respective guide rail 26 or 27. Guide assembly 20is the lower assembly, associated with reel 17 b in this embodiment, andguide assembly 21 is the upper assembly, associated with reel 17 a.Lower guide assembly 20 includes proximate guide roll 23 and distalguide roll 24, with roll 24 being spaced laterally in the upstreamdirection from roll 23. Upper guide assembly 21 includes guide roll 22for guiding a web W from the upper reel 17 a onto upper guide rail 27.

Referring to FIG. 4, lower guide rail 26 is a substantially flat,elongate rail that extends at one end from a position adjacent to guideroll 24 horizontally in an upstream direction, depicted by arrow A, andterminates adjacent to the inclined flight 46 of conveyor assembly 60.The guide rail 26 provides support for the web W as it is routed fromthe supply reel 17 b upstream toward conveyor assembly 40. Similarly,upper guide rail 27 is a substantially flat, elongate rail that extendsat one end from a position adjacent to guide roll 22 horizontally in theupstream direction. Upper guide rail 27 also terminates adjacent toconveyor assembly 60, but at a position further along and up theinclined flight 47 thereof than the lower guide rail 26. With thisarrangement, as the web W from one reel 17 a or 17 b is being drawn intothe machine during operation, the web W from the other reel is threadedby an operator across the respective guide rail and affixed to theassociated guide roller as detailed below. The leading end of a new webis thus in position so that when the old web is exhausted, the machinecan load the new web onto the conveyor automatically and very quickly.It may take tens of minutes for a web to be exhausted, so the operatorhas plenty of time to queue the new web before an old web is exhausted.The assembly 1 can thus continue to operate in a substantiallyuninterrupted fashion.

A lower roller assembly 30 is positioned above lower guide rail 26 andis movable on a pair of the guide rails 29 (FIG. 7) toward and away fromthe upstream end portion of the lower guide rail. A similar upper rollerassembly 38 is positioned above upper guide rail 27 and is movable onrails 29 toward and away from the upstream end portion of upper guiderail 27. In this way, the upper roller assembly can be moved to aretracted and out-of-the-way as position shown in FIG. 4 when the upperweb is not in use, and moved to the upstream end of the upper guide railwhen the upper web is in use. As perhaps best shown in FIG. 7, the lowerroller assembly 30 also is movable on similar rails in a similar mannerwith respect to the lower guide plate 26. A detailed description of theconfiguration and function of the upper and lower guide rollerassemblies 30 and 38 is provided below. FIG. 5 illustrates the articleselection and placement assembly 1 seen from a slightly upstreamdirection. The lower and upper guide rails 26 and 27 and the upper andlower roller assemblies 30 and 38 are clearly visible in FIG. 5 as arethe two supply reels 17 a and 17 b and their associated guide rollers.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show the infeed assembly 10 in isolated perspective andillustrate clearly the relationship between reels 17 a and 17 b, theirguide roll assemblies 20 and 21, and upper and lower guide plates 27 and26 respectively. The web W is shown threaded from lower reel 17 b,across guide roller 24 and across lower guide plate 26. The web carriestags T arranged in a linear array along the web with web substratetherebetween. The outline of web W threaded across the upper guide rail27 is shown; however, as stated above, only one web is drawn from onlyone reel at a time. FIG. 7 also illustrates the rails 29 on which thelower roller assembly 30 can move to position it between its retractedand operative positions.

FIG. 8 is a detailed perspective of the lower roller assembly 30, which,it will be understood, is the same as upper roller assembly 38. Rollerassembly 30 includes a body portion 31 that supports along its lowerside a series of spaced rollers 32. The roller assembly 30 is mounted tothe machine frame so that it can be moved toward and away from thehorizontal plane in which guide rail 26 is positioned. It also isselectively movable longitudinally along rails 29 as mentioned above.Roller assembly 30 is manually placed in one of two positions andorientations, depending upon whether or not it is in use. When rollerassembly is pivoted downwardly into the position shown in FIG. 3, it isin the operative or “run” position. When roller assembly 30 is pivotedupwardly in the position shown in FIG. 6, that is, away from web W, itis in the inoperative or “idle” position. Referring back to FIG. 8,Assembly 30 also includes pins 33, which are stationary and mounted tothe machine frame so that when assembly is pivoted fully upwardly intothe “idle” position, pins 33 protrude below the rollers 32 as shown.

An air cylinder assembly 34 is mounted below roller assembly 30, andincludes air cylinder 35, which is angled upwardly toward rollerassembly 30. Cylinder 35 supports a plate 36 and upstanding bars 37 aand 37 b, which are spaced from one another approximately the samedistance as the distance between the axes of two adjacent rollers 32.When the air cylinder 35 is energized, the plate 36 and the bars 37 aand 37 b are moved toward the raised roller assembly 30 until the bars37 a and 37 b engage respective rollers on either side of the pins 33.This pinches and captures a web in position on the roller assembly withpins 33 extending through holes 17 (FIG. 2) and thereby properlypositions the web to be loaded onto the conveyor assembly 40. When theother web is exhausted, the roller assembly and air cylinder assembly,with pinched web, is moved automatically toward the conveyor until thepins of the conveyor assembly extend through the holes in the web. Theair cylinder 35 is then de-energized, so that the plate and bars moveaway from roller assembly 30 to release the pinched web. The new web isthus properly loaded onto the conveyor ready for use. This process maytake as little as one second, resulting virtually no down time requiredfor changing from an exhausted web to a fresh web.

While the roller assemblies are described above as having an array ofrollers on their bottom sides, it will be understood by those of skillin the art that other structures may be substituted for the illustratedrollers with equivalent results. For example, the rollers may bereplaced with a smooth flat or curved surface with similar beneficialresults. Thus, the use of rollers on the roller assemblies is not alimitation of the invention disclosed herein.

As shown in FIG. 9, the conveyor assembly is positioned upstream of theweb supply and in-feed assembly 10. The conveyor assembly 40 includesendless belt 41 that supports spaced transverse bars 42 around itsperiphery. The endless belt 41 has an inclined flight 46 and a returnflight 47. The bars 42 are mounted in stationary manner to belt 41 so asto move in a rotational path of travel along with the belt. A driveassembly (not shown) known to those skilled in the art, selectivelydrives belt 41 in its endless path, in a counter-clockwise direction ofarrow B, thus moving transverse bars 42 upwardly along the inclinedflight 46. Each spaced transverse bar 42 includes a distal end portion43 that projects from one edge of the endless belt 41. One set of twopins 44 project upwardly from the distal end portion 43 of each bar 42to extend through the holes 17 of a web W. The pins 44 thus carry theweb upwardly along the inclined fight and position the tags T defined inthe web between the transverse bars 42.

The web and its tags are thus moved upwardly along the inclined flight46 toward a selector assembly 60, which comprises a rotating star wheel61 having an array of vacuum cups 65 disposed about its periphery. Hub63 is secured on shaft 62 that is driven by a drive motor 64 to rotatethe star wheel 61 in the indicated direction and in synchronization witha moving web below, meaning that the vacuum cups 65 rotate downwardlytoward the web and move between successive pairs of transverse bars 42.In doing so, each vacuum cup engages a tag T of a web W and pushes thetag downwardly to punch it out of and detach or free it from the web. Atemporary vacuum applied to the vacuum cups stabilizes each tag as it ispunched out of the web, thus insuring clean and reliable removal of tagsfrom their web. The function of the selector assembly 60 is described inmore detail below.

A web W is threaded by a machine operator into its ready or queuedposition by pulling the free end of the web, for example, from reel 17b, between rolls 23 and 24, across lower guide rail 26 and beneathroller assembly 30 as assembly 30 is in its raised or “idle” position.The web W is then moved up and placed on pins 33 through holes 17,whereupon air cylinder 35 is energized moving bars 37 toward the rollerson either side of the pins 33, thereby pinching and capturing the web.The web is now in its queued position ready to be loaded automaticallyonto the conveyor. At the appropriate time, such as when the machinedetects that the other web is exhausted, the machine moves the rollerassembly from its idle position toward the conveyor flight below. Asassembly 30 is moved downwardly, the web W moves off of stationary pins33, but is held in proper position between rollers 32 and bars 37. Asthe web engages the transverse bars of the conveyor assembly (detailedbelow), pins on the bars project through the holes of the web so thatthe web is properly loaded and ready for use. The air cylinder is thende-energized, freeing the web.

As mentioned, the in-feed assembly 10 includes the same components asdiscussed above for threading another web W from second or upper roll 11a to conveyor assembly 40 (FIGS. 3-7). This includes the upper guideroll 22, the upper guide rail 27, and upper roller assembly 38, whichfunction in the same manner as the components discussed above withrespect to roll 11 b. As a web W is being drawn into the machine fromreel 17 b, the operator treads the web from reel 17 a into its queuedposition as described above. When the web W is exhausted from reel 17 b,the assembly 1 stops very briefly (one second for example), and theupper roller assembly 38 is lowered toward the bars of the conveyor,thus loading the fresh web for use. The second web W is then placed ontoconveyor assembly 40, as discussed above. This process, therefore,provides exceedingly fast changeover from reel to reel when one web isexhausted. The operator then reloads the spent reel with a loaded reeland treads its web into its queued position as web W is drawn from theoperating reel to prepare the machine for its next web changeover.

Referring to FIGS. 9-12, the star wheel 61 of the selector assembly 60supports, in the illustrated embodiment, twenty-four vacuum cups 65spaced equidistant from one another around its periphery. Star wheel 61is formed with channels and hoses (not shown) that lead to cups 65 sothat vacuum can be applied selectively to a cup via a vacuum manifold(not shown). The star wheel 61 is positioned directly over the web W sothat a vacuum cup 65 rotates downwardly and contacts the body portion 13of a tag T as the web is moved in the direction of arrow B. This contactof a cup 65 as it is rotated in an angular direction against tag Tmechanically pushes tag T downwardly and from one edge of the tag to itsother edge to punch the tag out of web W and away from substrate 12 bytearing the body 13 along tear line 15. The process is facilitated bythe transverse bars 42, whose edges lie beneath and along the tear lines15 that define the tags in the web and thus forming an anvil againstwhich pressure is applied by the vacuum cups. Therefore, selectorassembly 60 removes the tags T, continuously and sequentially, fromsubstrate 12. When a vacuum cup moves into contact with a tag T, vacuumis applied momentarily through that cup 65 to the selected tag T inorder to stabilize the selected tag as it is detached and moveddownwardly away from substrate 12. The vacuum is thereafter released toallow the selected tag T to drop from the vacuum cup. FIGS. 10-12illustrate the location of the selector assembly 60 in relation to thearticle placing assembly 70, described in detail below, which isdisposed substantially directly beneath the selector assembly 60.

FIGS. 13 through 26 illustrates the configuration and function ofarticle placing assembly 70, which is positioned below selector assembly60, and these figures will be referred to as a group in the discussionthat follows. Generally, as tags T are successively punched out of anddetached from web W by the selector assembly 60, they are each picked bycomponents of the article placing assembly 70, and placed onto bottles Bpassing beneath assembly 70. The placing assembly 70 includes two spacedwheels or discs. Wheel 71 is oriented vertically and rotates on shaft 73in the direction of arrow C. Wheel 71 includes, in the illustratedembodiment, twenty-four equally spaced, radially extending slots 72.Slots 72 are sized to receive a cam follower, as discussed below, andare elongate, extending radially toward the periphery of wheel 71. Shaft73 is driven by a drive motor (not shown). A cam disc 75 is spaced fromwheel 71, and also is vertically oriented. Cam disc 75 does not rotate,but is stationary. Shaft 76, which is offset in the downward directionfrom shaft 73, extends through a central opening 77 in cam disc 75. Adrive motor (not shown) drives shaft 76 in the direction of arrow C. Ahub 78 is mounted to the inner or distal end of shaft 76 as perhaps bestillustrated in FIG. 14. Hub 77 includes flanges 78 and 79, which definecorresponding peripherally arrayed holes 80. The rotation of shaft 76correspondingly rotates hub 77, with hub 77 and wheel 71 being rotatedtogether, at the same rotational rate, and about vertically offset axes.Cam disc 75 defines, along its inner surface, two spaced cam tracks 85and 86, with each track being in a loop. Track 85 is the inner cam trackand track 86 is the outer cam track.

Jaw assemblies 100 are mounted to hub 77 radially around the hub inside-by-side arrangement as shown in FIG. 15. Twenty-four jaw assemblies100 are mounted to hub 77 (although only three are illustrated in thefigures for clarity), and are rotated therewith in the direction ofarrow C. FIG. 16 shows one of the jaw assemblies 100, with each jawassembly being constructed identically. Each jaw assembly 100 includesbody 101 that defines mounting socket 102 on a proximal end. Socket 102defines channel 103 therethrough, and is sized to be received betweenflanges 78 and 79 of hub 77 (FIG. 15). A pin 104 extends through channel103 to hold assembly 100 between flanges 78 and 79. The proximal end ofeach jaw assembly 100 is thus carried around by rotation of the hub 77in direction C. Jaw body 101 includes cam follower 105 projecting fromone side. A slot 106 is defined at one end of body 101 adjacent tosocket 102, and a slot 107 is defined at the opposite end of body 101(FIG. 16). A pivoting jaw 108 is generally T-shaped, with a flange 109that is received in slot 106. A pin 110 passes through flange 109, sothat jaw 108 can pivot on pin 110 toward and away from body 101. A camfollower 135 is mounted to the pivoting jaw 108 and pivoting movement ofthe jaw 108 about pin 110 causes the distal end of the jaw 108 to movefrom a closed position as shown in FIG. 16 away from body 101 to theopen position as shown in FIG. 17. Thus, pivoting movement of the jaw108 opens and closes the jaw assembly 100. Mounting blocks 111 and 112are mounted to the distal end portion 113 of jaw 108.

A yoke-shaped arm 115 is pivoted at one end to jaw body 101 by pin 116and has a cam follower 136 mounted to its distal end. Arm 115 definesslot 117, though which jaw 108 passes and within which jaw 108 is freeto move (FIG. 16). Retraction links 120-122, 121-123 (120-122 being asingle component and 121-123 being a single component) are connected toarm 115 by pin 124, as shown in FIG. 16, so that each link is movedtoward and away from socket 102 upon the pivoting of arm 115 toward oraway from socket 102 on pin 116. Blocks 125 and 126 are mounted to theend portion of body 101. As shown in FIG. 17, pins 131 and 132 slidablyextend through blocks 125 and 126 respectively and are connected throughpivoting linkages 91 and 92 to the distal end of retraction link120-122. Similarly, pins 133 and 134 slidably extend through blocks 111and 112 and are connected through pivoting linkages 93 and 94 to thedistal end of retraction link 121-123 respectively. It will thus be seenthat pivoting motion of arm 115 in direction E in FIG. 17 pulls theretraction lengths 120-122 and 121-123 in the same direction. This, inturn, through pivoting linkages 91, 92, 93, and 94, pulls the pins 131,132, 133, and 134 causing them to retract within their respective blocks125, 126, 111, and 112. Alternatively, movement of arm 115 in thedirection opposite to direction E in FIG. 17 causes the pins 131, 132,133, and 134 to extend from the ends of blocks 125, 126, 111, and 112 asshown in FIG. 17. Thus, pivoting motion of the arm 115 extends andretracts the pins 131, 132, 133, and 134.

FIG. 16 shows the assembly 100 with the jaws in a substantially closedposition, that is, moved closely together, and with the pins extendedfrom their respective blocks. FIG. 17 shows the jaws in a substantiallyopened position with extended pins 131 and 132 moved away from extendedpins 133 and 134, respectively, and with the pins extended outwardlyaway from socket 102. FIG. 18 shows the jaw in a substantially openedconfiguration, but with the pins fully retracted into their respectiveblocks; that is, moved toward socket 102. Motion of cam followers 135and 136, therefore, progressively opens and closes the jaw assembly, asdesired, and also extends and retracts the pins, as desired.

Referring to FIG. 13, three of the just described jaw assemblies areshown connected to the flanges 78 and 79 of hub 77 extending radiallyoutwardly therefrom. It will be understood that a full complement of jawassemblies are in fact present, but three are shown here for clarity.The jaw assemblies 100 extend outwardly with their bodies 101 locatedadjacent to wheel 71. The spacing cam follower 105 (FIG. 16) of each jawassembly extends from the body of the assembly slidably through acorresponding one of the radially extending slots 72 in wheel 71. Thewheel 71 and the hub 77 are rotated at the same rate and the jawassemblies are thus rotated from upper positions with their endsadjacent a web above and a lower position with their ends adjacentbottles below. Since the axis of the hub 77 is downwardly offset fromthe axis of wheel 71, the jaw assemblies are caused to spread apartprogressively as they move toward their lower positions and drawtogether as they move toward their upper positions. This is because theradial slots 72 of wheel 71 are farther apart at their distal ends thanat their proximal ends and, due to the described offset, the spacing camfollowers 105 are positioned near the distal ends of the slots at thelower positions of their respective jaw assemblies and near the proximalends of the slots at the upper positions of their respective jawassemblies. It may thus be said that the ends of the jaw assembliesspread progressively apart as the jaw assemblies rotate down and bunchprogressively together as the jaw assemblies rotate up.

Cam disc 75 is disposed on the opposite side of the jaw assemblies asbest seen in FIG. 13, where the cam disc is shown transparent forclarity. Cam disc 75 is formed on its surface adjacent the jawassemblies with two cam tracks, an inner cam track 85 and an outer camtrack 86. The cam followers 135 and 136 of the jaw assemblies (FIG. 16)ride in respective cam tracks 85 and 86. Specifically, cam follower 135,which controls the opening and closing of the jaw assembly, rides in theinner cam track 85 and cam follower 136, which controls the extensionand retraction of the pins of the jaw assemblies, rides in outer camtrack 86. The cam tracks are shaped so that the jaw assemblies aresubstantially closed with their pins extended as they rotate to theirupper positions. As each jaw assembly begins to rotate downwardly towardits lower position and bottles below, the inner cam track acting on thecam follower 135 causes the pivoting jaw 108 to pivot away from the body101 of the jaw assembly, thus opening the jaw assembly and movingextended pins 131 and 132 away from extended pins 133 and 134 (FIG. 17).In other words, the jaw assembly opens as it rotates downwardly towardthe bottom of its path and, at the same time, its ends spread apart fromthe ends of adjacent jaw assemblies as described above.

At the bottom portion of the path, the adjacent ends and adjacent pinsof a pair of adjacent open jaw assemblies intercept and straddle the topof a corresponding bottle B, which is being moved by timing screw 6 insynchronization with the rotating jaw assemblies. When these pins havestraddled the top of the bottle B, the outer cam track 86 acting on camfollowers 136 causes the pins of the adjacent open jaw assemblies toretract into their respective blocks for purposes described in detailbelow. The lengths of the pins on each jaw assembly are different andare predetermined so that adjacent pins on adjacent ends of each pair ofadjacent open jaw assemblies reach their fully retracted positions atapproximately the same instant. Each jaw assembly then rotates back uptoward the top of its path and, during this phase, the cam tracks 85 and86 act on the cam followers 135 and 136 to cause the jaw assemblies toclose and to cause their pins to extend in preparation for a nextsuccessive cycle. At the same time, the ends of the jaw assemblies areprogressively bunched together by action of the radial slots 72 of wheel71 acting on the spacing cam followers 105 of the jaw assemblies.

The operation of the placing assembly will now be described in moredetail with reference to the group of FIGS. 12 through 26. Referring toFIG. 12, as wheel 71 and hub 77 are rotated together in the direction ofarrow D, jaw assemblies 100 are moved in the direction of arrow D towardthe twelve o'clock position of their path. The action of cam follower136 in outer cam track 86 extends pins 131, 132, 133 and 134 of each jawassembly fully outwardly, toward a web W moving in synchronization onthe transverse arms 43 of the conveyor assembly 40. At about the 12o'clock position, the directly adjacent pins of two adjacent jawassemblies align with and extend progressively through an opening 16 ofan elastic anchor band 14 of a corresponding tag T. At this point, avacuum cup 25 of the article selector assembly 60 pushes down on andseparates or punches out the tag T from the web W, a vacuum applied tothe cup gripping and stabilizing the tag until it is fully separatedfrom the web. When the vacuum is released from cup 25, the tag isreleased to be caught and held on the four pins of the adjacent jawassemblies 100 by its elastic anchor band 14. The action of the pinsmoving through elastic anchors of synchronously moving tags T is perhapsbest illustrated in FIG. 15 and also can be seen in FIG. 19 from theback side of the wheel 71.

As the wheel 71 and jaw assemblies continue to rotate downwardly in thedirection of arrow D toward the 6 o'clock position of their path, theaction of the inner cam track 85 on the cam follower 135 causes each jawassembly to open progressively so that its pins 131 and 132 move awayfrom pins 133 and 134; i.e., the pin sets of each jaw assembly spreadapart. At the same time, the ends of the jaw assemblies alsoprogressively spread apart through action of the spacing cam followers105 sliding toward the distal ends of slots 72 in wheel 71. The actionof the pin set moving away from one another in conjunction with thespreading apart of the ends of adjacent jaw assemblies causes theelastic anchor bands 14 of each tag to be stretched wide by the pins bythe expanding pins of adjacent jaw assemblies as the wheel 71 and jawassemblies continue to move toward the six o'clock position and towardthe bottles B below.

The bottles are moved consecutively and synchronously beneath assembly70 by timing screw 6, as is known in the art. The rotation of the wheel71 and hub 77 is timed with the bottle line speed and pitch so that theadjacent pins of adjacent jaw assemblies 100 register or aligns with onebottle B at approximately the six o'clock position of the wheel 71, orsubstantially directly beneath assembly 70, as perhaps best illustratedin FIG. 22. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 21, the spread apartadjacent ends and extended pins carrying the stretched-out anchor bandof the tag move over and straddle the top portion of the bottle B. Thestretched-out anchor band 14 thus is positioned to surround the topportion of the bottle B. In this position, the outer cam track 86 actingon the cam follower 136 causes the retraction links 120, 121, 122, and123 to retract the adjacent pins of adjacent jaw assemblies into theircorresponding blocks and away from the bottle B. Because of thepredetermined varying lengths of adjacent pins on adjacent jawassemblies, all four pins around which an anchor band is stretched reachtheir fully retracted positions at approximately the same instant. Whenthis occurs, the elastic anchor band 14 of tag T is released from thepins, and snaps onto the neck or top portion of a bottle. The tag isthus attached to the bottle by its elastic anchor band for displayingadvertising, contest information, or other indicia as desired. Each jawassembly then rotates back up, is closed, its ends bunch toward the endsof adjacent jaw assemblies, and its pins extend in preparation for thenext succeeding cycle.

FIG. 20 depicts a jaw assemblies 100 and bottle B approaching oneanother. FIG. 21 depicts the four adjacent pins of adjacent jawassemblies holding a tag T through opening 16 of elastic anchor band 14,and positioning the band around a bottle neck, just prior to the pinsbeing fully retracted. Since the pin lengths are predetermined so thatadjacent pins of adjacent jaw assemblies reach their fully retractedpositions at about the same instant, the anchor band 14 is released byall pins at the same time and snaps onto the bottle top reliably. FIG.22 is an alternate view of an assembly 101 in the six o'clock position.FIGS. 23-26 show a jaw assembly 100 over a bottle B, with the positionof the cam tracks illustrated. The continuous motion of the articleselection and placement assembly of this disclosure provides thecapacity to place elastic banded labels onto bottles or other objects atvery high rates and to do so reliably and efficiently. The ability toquick-thread the machine with a fresh web of tags when one web expiresreduces costly down time significantly.

The invention has been described herein in terms of preferredembodiments and methodologies considered by the inventor to representthe best mode of carrying out the invention. It will be understood bythose of skill in the art, however, that a wide range of additions,deletions, and modifications might be made to the illustratedembodiments. For example, while the jaw assemblies of the preferredembodiment is articulated using cam tracks and cam followers, thisfunction might be accomplished with servo motors controlled byprogrammed virtual cam tracks. In such a modification, the motion of thejaw assemblies can easily be modified as needed to accommodate differenttypes of tags or bottles. These and other modifications, both subtle andgross, might well be made to the illustrated embodiments by the skilledartisan without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention,which is delimited only by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An article selection and placement assemblycomprising: an infeed assembly for continuously feeding a supply ofarticles to be placed on objects; a conveyor assembly receiving thesupply of articles from the infeed assembly and moving the articles inan upstream direction; a selector assembly at an upstream end of theconveyor assembly; and a placing assembly configured to engage articlesof the supply of articles moving on the conveyor assembly, the placingassembly being separate from the selector assembly; wherein the selectorassembly is configured to select the engaged articles from the supply ofarticles moving on the conveyor assembly, and the placing assembly isconfigured to prepare the selected articles for placement onto objectsand to place the prepared articles on the objects.
 2. The articleselection and placement assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein theinfeed assembly is configured to carry at least two supplies ofarticles.
 3. The article selection and placement assembly as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the conveyor assembly comprises an endless belt.
 4. Thearticle selection and placement assembly as claimed in claim 3 furthercomprising an array of spaced bars on the endless belt configured toreceive and carry the supply of articles.
 5. The article selection andplacement assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein the spaced bars extendtransversely from an edge of the endless belt to free end portions andwherein the free end portions are configured to receive and carry thesupply of articles.
 6. The article selection and placement assembly asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the selector assembly comprises a rotatingwheel carrying spaced selectors about its periphery.
 7. The articleselection and placement assembly as claimed in claim 6 wherein thespaced selectors are configured to engage and select individual articlesfrom the supply of articles on the conveyor assembly.
 8. The articleselection and placement assembly as claimed in claim 7 wherein theselectors comprise vacuum cups.
 9. The article selection and placementassembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the placing assembly engages thearticles prior to the selection of the engaged articles by the selectorassembly.
 10. The article selection and placement assembly as claimed inclaim 9 wherein the placing assembly comprises an array of rotating jawassemblies.
 11. The article selection and placement assembly as claimedin claim 10 wherein the jaw assemblies are configured to grasp thearticles and carry the grasped article to the respective objects. 12.The article selection and placement assembly as claimed in claim 1wherein at least a portion of the placing assembly is downstream fromthe selector assembly.
 13. The article selection and placement assemblyas claimed in claim 1 wherein a portion of the conveyor assembly extendsbetween the placing assembly and the selector assembly.
 14. The articleselection and placement assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein theselector assembly is positioned above at least a portion of the conveyorassembly and at least a portion of the placing assembly is positionedbelow at least a portion of the conveyor assembly.
 15. The articleselection and placement assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein theselector assembly comprises a plurality of vacuum cups on a wheel andthe placing assembly comprises a plurality of jaw assemblies mounted ona hub.
 16. The article selection and placement assembly as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the placing assembly comprises a array of jawassemblies, each jaw assembly of the array of jaw assemblies comprises ajaw body, a pivoting jaw, a first pin slidably engaging the jaw body anda second pin slidably engaging the pivoting jaw, the pivoting jaws areconfigured to move with respect to the jaw bodies to engage the articleswith at least the first pins and the second pins.